.
@JustinTrudeau
: banning 1500 models of assault rifles in Canada. "These weapons were designed for 1 purpose: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There's no use or place for such weapons in Canada. You don't need an AR15 to bring down a deer."
well, look at this. when
@realDonaldTrump
was an owner in the now defunct USFL, canadian owner johnny f. bassett confronted him on his bullying tactics. worth a read.
#Trump
.
@JustinTrudeau
announces surplus food purchasing program: govt will buy large quantities of potatoes or poultry and redistribute them to organizations that deal with food insecurity. Farmers will get paid and people will get helped.
#covid19canada
.
@JustinTrudeau
's daily briefing: introducing a new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (replacing 2 others announced last week). $2000/month for the next 4 months for workers who've lost their jobs, are self-employed, or lost contracts. Apply online.
#cdnpoli
#covid19
During
@CanadianPM
@JustinTrudeau
's daily briefing, he asked all mothers to leave the room while he spoke to their kids. He then urged them to make their mothers' breakfast tomorrow and shower them with love.
i wonder whether it's time to name, shame, and embarrass the political staffers who debase themselves by behaving in this unprecedentedly unprofessional way at government news conferences. shame on all of you.
#onpoli
Spare a moment to remember that this is
#LincolnAlexanderDay
in Canada. "Linc" was born 99 years ago today. He was our 1st Black MP, cabinet minister, and Ont. lieutenant-governor. And beyond that, a thoroughly fabulous guy. A true pioneer from the
@cityofhamilton
.
#BlackHistory
Off stage, a beaming
@AnaPoilievre
watches her husband
@PierrePoilievre
give his victory speech. Venezuelan-born, She has been a huge asset for his campaign.
#cpcldr
Anyone who says the
@CPC_HQ
has a “split party” problem has to be rethinking that. 68% of the points on the first and only ballot is a blowout.
#cpcldr
@PierrePoilievre
I’ll be very interested to see how many
@OntarioPCCaucus
members show up for Question Period tomorrow. They met maskless last week. Sat maskless in the Legislature this week. Caucus meeting was switched to Zoom today. Wonder why?
#COVID19
Do I even need to say it? If this were a Canadian election, it’d be over by now. And we’d know the winner. Even in a minority parliament. These American elections are horrible.
A little over a year ago, I visited Richard Gwyn at the seniors' residence he lived in, after his dementia diagnosis. I wrote this: . Richard died today. He was a great contributor to
@tvo
pgms over the years & wrote the definitive books on
@_JohnAMacdonald
Some truly awful and sad news: Ontario’s former lieutenant governor
@HonDavidOnley
has died at age 72. He was a great champion for the disabled community and despite (or maybe because of) his physical challenges was an inspiration to millions. RIP Your Honour.
#onpoli
#obit
Such sad news to report that Hugh Segal has died at 72. The world has lost a great champion for the basic income program. He was chief of staff to both Premier Bill Davis & PM Brian Mulroney. A truly great and happy political warrior.
#onpoli
#cdnpoli
For the first time during the
#COVID19
crisis, Doug Ford is looking genuinely pissed off in this briefing. The lack of sanitary conditions at construction sites & snowbirds going shopping rather than self-isolating after coming home has really irked him.
@fordnation
#COVIDIOTS
This is such awful news. Richard was a guest on
@TheAgenda
less than 3 months ago on a topic he cared deeply about: merit AND equity in education. The cause of his death should prompt a thorough investigation.
#education
@tdsb
The closest friendship
@WilliamGDavisPC
had with any of his fellow premiers was with
@BobRae48
. They truly loved each other even though they were in different parties - a sign of the civility of earlier times.
#onpoli
“We have 1000 nurses go to the US every day to help them. I’m so disappointed in what the US is doing right now,”
@fordnation
says. “How would the people in Michigan like it if we prohibited those 1000 nurses from going there? We’re stronger together.”
#COVID19
hard to imagine that someone actually thought watching
@TheAgenda
on a university campus made them feel "unsafe." have we really lost the ability to debate issues on campuses?
#FreedomOfSpeech
#media
.
@PierrePoilievre
just announced that not only are his adoptive parents here, but his birth mother as well. She gave him up for adoption at age 16.
#cpcldr
"When I look out the window, it's absolutely selfish, reckless, and irresponsible," says a furious Ford, regarding the current protesters at Queen's Park who want to reopen Ontario now. "They're a bunch of yahoos. They're putting everyone in jeopardy."
#covid19ontario
#covid19
"Chrystia is a firecracker. She's out there going full steam on this,"
@fordnation
says, then apologizes, and says, "I mean the deputy prime minister."
@cafreeland
has referred to the premier as "her therapist." These unlikely allies seem to work very well together.
#covid19
We have interviewed the last EIGHT premiers of Ontario on
@tvo
--- the channel owned by the Govt. of Ontario --- but not
@fordnation
since he assumed the role in June 2018. We have repeatedly asked. The press office's answer is always: "the premier is unavailable."
#onpoli
Today marks 4 whole years since Doug Ford (
@fordnation
) came on
@TheAgenda
to speak to
@spaikin
. He’d just been made PC leader. Prov election is June 2. We hope to have the Premier join us again!
#onpoli
Happy to. My mom received no salary for her voluntary role at U of T. She was appointed by the PC govt. She gave money to the Liberal leader (he represented a Hamilton riding at Queen's Park). She voted NDP in the ensuing election.
@spaikin
OK, Steve. Perhaps you could tell
@tvo
readers how much $ your mother received from patronage appointments by the PC governments of Bill Davis and Brian Mulroney? Let's start with the 1972 appointment to the University of Toronto governing council:
Happy to announce that the
@tvo
work stoppage is over after 11 weeks.
@TVO_CMG
employees accepted the company’s latest offer. Back to the office tomorrow. Back on the air in the days ahead.
#media
#television
Just heard from an acquaintance who's canceling a $150,000 order from an American company for new windows on his new home. He'll re-order from a Canadian company instead. He didn't like his country being labeled a national security threat to the US either.
.
@StevenDelDuca
introduces
@OntLiberal
platform, speaking extemporaneously now for many minutes with no teleprompter or “cheat notes,” covering off numerous financial details. He has other issues, but no other current leader can do this so well.
#onpoli
#elxn43
President Jimmy Carter is 96 today. He's been a former president longer than anyone else in U.S. history. He's beat back cancer. And he showed up to Ronald Reagan's inauguration because the peaceful transference of power in a democracy is important.
#uspoli
#USPolitics
The family of
@WilliamGDavisPC
just called me to say Ontario's 18th premier died at his home in
@CityBrampton
this morning, August 8. Mr. Davis had just celebrated his 92nd birthday back on July 30th.
#onpoli
#brampton
53 years ago today, education minister
@WilliamGDavisPC
announced his intention to create an educational TV channel which became
@tvo
. A good thing or I'd have been unemployed the last 26 years.
#education
4 straight provincial election wins, 7 straight in
@CityBrampton
, the Constitution, Ontario’s college system,
@OISEUofT
,
@tvo
, the SkyDome, 2nd longest serving Ontario premier ever, stopped “Spadina”, and a thoroughly decent man. What a legacy.
#onpoli
“I want to thank the media. You’re playing a massive role in helping us out,” says premier
@fordnation
using words I suspect he thought he’d never use. “There are a lot of great articles in the
@TorontoStar
”.
#COVID19ON
#onpoli
Duelling messages on carbon taxes: the
@fordnation
govt had lots of cabinet ministers fan out to gas up their cars before the carbon tax kicks in, then tweeted similar messages about it.
@OntarioGreens
leader
@MikeSchreiner
had an alternative message:
If
@fordnation
was serious about helping drivers save money today he would support EVs and public transit. It’s time for Ford to stop sabotaging climate solutions.
#onpoli
At the risk of being a nerd here, I didn't like Doug Ford cutting off
@Kathleen_Wynne
on election night last year, and similarly, it's not cool for
@JustinTrudeau
to cut off
@AndrewScheer
two minutes into his concession speech. Protocol, people. Come on.
#cdnpoli
#elxn43
I can’t swear this hasn’t happened before but I can’t remember any premier ever appointing a family member to cabinet before. Michael Ford is in.
#onpoli
Well this is different. At her last newser,
@Kathleen_Wynne
shakes hands with members of the media, thanking them for the role they play in democracy.
#onpoli
#Election2018
Well how about that. One of the Three Amigos of the Constitution, former PM Jean Chretien, has arrived to pay his respects to his dear friend Roy McMurtry. Brilliant.
the order has gone out to all deputy ministers at queen's park: hiring freeze is on, cancel all paper-based newspaper/magazine subscriptions, new restrictions on out-of-province travel, no food at taxpayers' expense approved for in-house meetings.
#onpoli
i wonder why the shameless fools who do this fail to understand that, 1. you can just say "the premier needs to get to question period" to end a news conference, & 2. the bad press you're getting for doing this means it's a failure. please stop this. you look like idiots.
Ontario has just lost arguably its greatest attorney-general and chief justice. Roy McMurtry, also Canada’s high commissioner to the UK, has died at age 91. I just visited him a couple of weeks ago. Grateful for that.
#onpoli
@OntarioPCParty
Made my annual pilgrimage to former Premier John Robarts’ gravesite today. Robarts was lost to suicide 38 years ago today. Brilliant premiership (nuclear power, GO Transit, Science Centre, college system,
@tvo
,
@OISE
) but suffered from depression after a stroke. RIP JPR.
#onpoli
A broadcasting legend has died. Patrick Watson was 92. His "Witness to Yesterday" in which he interviewed figures from our history got me hooked both on journalism and history. His "This Hour has 7 Days" revolutionized current affairs TV in the 1960s. He was
@CBC
chair 1989-94.
And with that, the House is adjourned. No budget debate. It will not pass. And no commitment from the Govt that if re-elected, it’ll reintroduce the same budget, raising questions as to whether this is more campaign manifesto than budget.
#budget2022
#budget22
#budget
#onpoli
A little fact check: Premier Ford just repeated the inaccuracy that his govt inherited a $15b deficit 2 years ago. An independent
@InfoFAO
investigation has already confirmed that's not accurate.
#onpoli
#covid19ontario
75 years ago last month, the American president loved Canada so much, he went fishing near Manitoulin Island. They put a plaque there to mark the occasion. Today's
@POTUS
seems to have a very different view of us.
#cdnpoli
#Canada
#USA
#Trump
#fishing
#NAFTA
.
@StevenDelDuca
says because of “unforeseen circumstances” such as
#covid19
, he can’t commit to balancing the budget by 2026-27. “We can and should balance by then, but I won’t sacrifice health and education to get there.”
#onpoli
#elxn43
.
@CanadianPM
asked why not just make the
#CERB
universal? He never really answers the question, which is becoming an unfortunate habit of
@JustinTrudeau
's. He just says the govt. is moving forward with student aid, and other gaps. But where's the answer to the actual question?
Wonder why you're paying full price for auto insurance when you're not taking your car anywhere? So are the
@OntarioNDP
. They've asked the govt. to enact a 50% break on premiums for the next 3 months & let ppl who have lost income defer payments during the
#COVID19
pandemic.
Ford: "I want to keep the border with the U.S. closed. Keep the trade moving. We love our American neighbours, but we have to keep the border closed. We can't risk it. We'll open our arms later, but we can't chance it now."
#covid19ontario
#Border
I suspect most of us, who live in the
@cityoftoronto
, know where Nathan Phillips Square is. But do you know who it's named after? This guy. He was mayor of Toronto from 1955-62 and as a Jew, was the first non-WASP ever to hold the job. He died 48 years ago today.
#topoli
"Kathleen made history as the first woman and LGBTQ premier. I even wore my special red tie for you tonight," says
@fordnation
. "Thanks to Kathleen young girls can grow up knowing they can be anything they want to be."
#onpoli
.
@JustinTrudeau
: "We're watching the news out of the US with shock and horror. Black racism is real in the US and Canada. We know ppl face discrimination every day. We need as a society to stand against discrimination - be there for each other. We have work to do as well."
i've said this before but will reiterate:
@Kathleen_Wynne
is one of the few leaders around today who can speak well, off the cuff, with only a rare glance down at notes, and tell people why she's in public life. she's doing it now in her final speech in this 41st legislature.
On my
#morningwalk
through Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, I accidentally happened upon former PM John Turner’s final resting place. RIP JNT.
#cdnpoli
#JohnTurner